SoylentNews

aristarchus [soylentnews.org] writes:

So, here it is, one of the most respected news organizations in the world, banned from the pages of SoylentNews. So sad. So telling. But here is the story, from The BBC [bbc.com], on what is going down.

Online and in real-life demonstrations, two viral conspiracy theories are increasingly coming together.

At first glance the only thing they appear to have in common is their vast distance from reality.

On one hand, QAnon: a convoluted conspiracy theory that contends that President Trump is waging a secret war against Satan-worshipping elite paedophiles.

On the other, a swirling mass of pseudoscience claiming that coronavirus does not exist, or is not fatal, or any number of other baseless claims.

These two ideas are now increasingly coming together, in a grand conspiracy mash-up.

So, no copyright violation, in this mash-up of conspiracy theories? OK.

It was apparent on the streets of London last weekend, where speakers addressing thousands of followers at an anti-mask, anti-lockdown demonstration touched on both themes. Posters promoting QAnon and a range of other conspiracy theories were on display.

On Sunday, President Trump retweeted a message claiming the true number of Covid-19 deaths in the United States was a small fraction of the official numbers. The tweet was later deleted by Twitter under its policy on misinformation.

The account that posted it - "Mel Q" - is still live, and is a copious spreader of QAnon ideas.

QAnon's main strand of thought is that President Trump is leading a fight against child trafficking that will end in a day of reckoning with prominent politicians and journalists being arrested and executed.

Mel Q is just one of many QAnon influencers who have also been plugging coronavirus disinformation.

Oh, my, Mel Q is kinda hot.

The merger between QAnon and Covid-19 conspiracies is also apparent in a number of emails received by the BBC.

"Coronavirus is a cover-up for… child sex trafficking - a major issue in this world and nobody wants to report about it," one typical email read.

Another man got in touch to explain how his mother - who attended the protests - has been led down the rabbit hole over the course of the pandemic, taken in first by coronavirus conspiracy theories and now by QAnon.

T'was inevitable, t'wern't it? Crazy attracts crazy, and there is none more crazy than this, other than supply-side economics!

One man who contacted the BBC says his mother attended the London demonstration and carried two posters. One featured a coronavirus conspiracy theory: "Arrest Bill Gates for crimes against humanity". The other had a QAnon hashtag: "#SavetheChildren"

The man, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of falling out with his family, explained how his mother adopted conspiratorial views after becoming increasingly obsessed with YouTube videos of a number of the protest speakers.

"She's become so into these different conspiracy theories, it's becoming difficult to pin down what she believes. Everything contradicts each other," he explained.

His mother's transformation has put a huge strain on their relationship.

"She's always sending videos and messages promoting these conspiracy theories on the family WhatsApp chat now," he says. "It's so hard to have a normal conversation."

The organisers of Saturday's rally declined to comment for this story.

Well, of course they would. Reminds me of my favorite quote from "Reign of Fire": "Only thing worse than dragons, Americans."

Original Submission